1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an evolutionary controlling system for motors, and particularly to that for controlling, in an evolutionary manner, output of motors installed in vehicles, for example.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicles equipped with driving power such as combustion engines or electric motors are provided with primary output-controllers such as accelerator pedals, accelerator levers, or accelerator grips, so that a user can control output of the driving power by using the primary output-controller to directly operate a secondary output-controller such as throttle valves or current-carrying controllers for electric motors, thereby ultimately controlling output of the drive power.
In the above, the operational movement of the primary output-controller and the operational movement of the secondary output-controller are fixed in a pre-set relationship before shipping the vehicle. Thus, for example, when the accelerator grip is manipulated to a certain angle, the throttle valve is basically synchronized with the accelerator grip, and the opening of the throttle valve is always constant for the same angle of the accelerator grip. Similarly, the movement of the throttle grip is always constant for the same movement of the accelerator lever.
The relationship between the operational movement of the primary output-controller and the operational movement of the secondary output-controller directly represents output characteristics of the vehicles equipped with driving power or motors which include combustion engines and electric motors. For example, the larger the opening of the throttle per angle of the accelerator grip, the greater the output becomes; that is, this is a power-focused type. On the other hand, the smaller the opening of the throttle per angle of the accelerator grip, the lower the output becomes; that is, this is a fuel efficiency-focused type. Similarly, the greater the movement of the throttle valve per movement of the accelerator grip, the quicker the response becomes; that is, this is a response-focused type. On the other hand, the less the movement of the throttle valve per movement of the accelerator grip, the less the fluctuation of output becomes; that is, this is a comfort-focused type.
Because preferences over the above output characteristics differ depending on the individual user, the user may not be satisfied if the relationship between the primary output-controller and the secondary output-controller is pre-fixed prior to shipment.
Further, in addition to the above problem, vehicles with driving power are used under various environmental conditions, and the conditions of the vehicles themselves differ greatly depending on the users. Furthermore, driving power sources including peripheral parts deteriorate with time. Thus, the relationship between the primary output-controller and the secondary output-controller may not remain optimum.
An objective of the present invention in an embodiment is to provide a control method for vehicles equipped with driving power to change and adapt the relationship between the primary output-controller and the secondary output-controller to the user""s characteristics (such as preferences, skill, and conditions), driving conditions, environmental changes, and/or deterioration of driving power and peripheral parts with time.
The objective can be achieved by embodiments of the present invention as follows:
In an output controlling method for controlling output of a driving power source installed in a vehicle wherein the operational movement of a secondary output-controller directly controlling output of the drive power source is determined based on the operational movement of a primary output-controller which a user can manipulate, the relationship between the primary output-controller and the secondary output-controller evolves by using evolutionary computing including generic algorithms and genetic programming based on at least one of the following: the user""s characteristics, driving conditions, environmental changes, and deterioration of the drive power source with time.
The present invention can be applied not only to a system but also to a method. An appropriate method can be performed accordingly. In addition, although the present invention can advantageously and preferably be applied to an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, it can be applied to other motors as described later.